Wings of Pyrus
by WingedWolfAlari
Summary: Dan's lead a normal life. Friends, family, a legacy, a partner who never left his side, he had it all. Now, after three years of torture and losing everything, he's escaped. However, he must not return, he's no longer fully human. But, he can protect them, he will. By any means necessary.
1. Prologue

**Hey Readers! I'm so excited it's my first story. So give me some advice, I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks again. -WingedWolfAlari**

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**Prologue**-

_It has been a few months since Mechtaneas Destroyer; a group of four mechtagon led by Cordicon, first appeared and reigned terror over Earth, New Vestroia, Vestal, Neathia, and Gundalia. Pledged to end all life, they nearly succeeded in their ruthless mission. However they were defeated and destroyed by the bakugan battle brawlers, a group of talented individuals who fought for freedom and peace alongside the bakugan. Their leader, after the war was over, left the team with his bakugan partner Drago to seek out new adventures and leave room for another chosen one to gain the ranks that they accomplished. No one had seen them since they launched their small boat out into the ocean. Nor did anyone know that the story was far from over, and every obstacle they had conquered was to prepare the leader for an event that would forever change his life and have his sanity put to the ultimate test._

It was a bright and cloudless day. A cool breeze wafted through the trees, and rippled the young man's hair. The boy began to stand up, feeling the warm current's weak pressure against his lower calves. He took a deep breath and observed his surroundings.

He was standing in a small creek in the middle of a lush forest. The sunlight danced through the leaf-deluged trees. A chorus of bird song joined sounds of rushing water and swaying branches, creating a pacific scene of harmony. The naïve brunette thought to himself the purpose of his journey. This was it, to be surrounded by a sense of relief. A time to put his guard down. (Oh, the irony)

He sighed, his burnt sienna gaze turning to a small boat anchored into the creek. It wasn't a yacht, but it was reliable. Said boat was no bigger than a tiny homemade cabin, about 8x5x2ft, with a smooth white finish, red borders, and a small bed below deck. A golden polished symbol for Pyrus, or fire, was branded on the bow. The ship's name was the SSS Wyvern.

The boy gave a small grin, knowing that his partner wasn't up yet. He trudged through the current, and climbed up onto the boarding deck of the tiny vessel. He grabbed a towel that he had set out before his morning dip and dried himself off. Picking up a set of clothes he also set out, he quickly dressed himself and fixed his now frizzy hair via reflection in the water.

Like anyone else in the world, he began to inspect himself. The brunette wore a dark gray athletic shirt, worn out black jeans, a brown belt, and field drab-colored hiking boots. After that, he took a few steps toward the bow and the wheel where a crimson jacket embroidered with a golden dragon in mid flight was draped over the seat in front of the wheel. He casually slipped it on, stretched his body, let out a long vocal yawn, shuddered, and made his way to the lower deck where his friend was curled up into a little ball (literally) and fast asleep.

The boy chuckled at his bakugan, who in his ball form was about the size of a large marble. However, his true Fusion Dragonoid form was about a tall as a large house with a wingspan of around 50 ft. Having known him long enough not to be intimidated, the boy quietly leaned down and with an evil snicker, screamed,

"GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!"

Hiding his laughter in his hands, the brunette watched as the bakugan screamed and shot up like a terrified cat to the fairly low ceiling, getting himself stuck up there after having dug his claws into the wood. After a slightly hyperventilating, he steadied himself and threw the still giggling prankster a toxic green glare.

"Someday you're going to give me a heart attack and kill me by doing something like that again, _human_." he said in a half serious tone. The bakugan unhooked himself from the deck and landed in the boy's hand.

"Sorry pal, I couldn't resist, you just looked so _peaceful_," the brunette replied jokingly as he lifted his arm up to his shoulder so the sentient could perch there while he climbed back up onto the deck. The bakugan spent a few minutes observing the forest scene that closed in all around them and let out a placid sigh. He looked upward at the sun and gasped. The blinding white light had nearly centered itself among the cyan sky, as if it was boasting its magnificence toward all who could see. _Holy crap how long was I out? Perhaps it was a good thing that he got me up now. Hopefully next time he won't be so rude when awakening me,_ the fire-attributed being thought to himself as he turned to his brawler.

"Where should we be right about now, Dan?" he asked his partner inquisitively. Dan looked back at him and thought for a few seconds before gazing down at his feet and replied,

"Hmmm, I'm not sure Drago, but I think that we might be somewhere in Taiwan."

"Taiwan? Ugh you gotta be kidding me," the green-eyed dragon groaned.

"Hey what's so wrong about Taiwan?" Dan rebutted with an expression that clearly read, 'Dude, what the heck?' as he was confused with his best friend's uncharacteristic outburst. Drago was usually a pretty chill guy and wouldn't normally care about these sorts of things.

The bakugan replied in an impatient yet sarcastic tone, "It's _not _the Philippines."

"Huh, the Philippines? Oh geez, DRAGO! That one time a few years ago you said you wanted to go there, I expected you to drop that by now you nutjob," the brawler said remembering how the dragon once wished to go to the chain of islands because of the scenery that attracted millions of tourists worldwide.

Drago let out a loud laugh, "Oh come on Daniel, you know I'm joking. You and I are partners till beyond the end, and wherever you go I'll follow without question." He said this in a very meaningful way, making Dan release a thankful smile.

"Thanks buddy," he glanced around with curiosity. The trees continued their hypnotic dance as another calm breeze drifted through the scene. "Hey Drago, what do you say we split up and have a look around and meet back here when the sun is a little farther west. After all, it's not like we'll get to see Taiwan again anytime soon since we have to set off at around 2:00 PM."

"Sure why not, and while we're at it we may as well gather some supplies from the surrounding area just in case," he replied.

"Deal!" Dan exclaimed with excitement as he jumped from the Wyvern to shore landing on his feet with ease due to experience in the past. He and Drago took off in opposite directions, both completely oblivious to the single pair of predator eyes that observed and recorded every move they made.

* * *

The owner of the eyes kept himself hidden; to the human eye he was only a shadow among thousands that belonged to the forest. His lips curled into a wide grin, his muddy yellow stained fangs bared. He chuckled ominously as his insane blood shot eyes narrowed. He raised his right fully clawed hand up to his pointed elf like ear and pressed and held down a small button on what seemed like a communicator that was lodged in the ear canal. His voice was dark and raspy, yet it had a sense of naivety when he spoke, "**This is Batchelder, I have a visual on target. Target is unarmed and solo. Initiating pursuit and capture."**

_Copy that Batchelder, awaiting arrival at the rendezvous point, out~_

Batchelder signed off the communicator and let out a ravenous snarl mixed with an evil laugh, "**Hehehe, and now the fun… begins."**

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Dan had gone quite a bit a ways from the Wyvern and was enjoying himself. He had originally broken out into a full sprint before slowing down into a run, jog, walk, and finally a slow stroll. He remained adjacent to the river, not wanting to get too lost while absorbing the beautiful surroundings. Several streaks of gleaming silver shot through the water like torpedoes and caught Dan's attention.

_Perhaps I could try to do some fishing to fill up our food supply, _the boy thought to himself with a hopeful look on his face. But then he dipped his head, his eyes losing their lustrous shine; _ugh I don't have a pole, it probably wouldn't have done much good anyways. _His head perked up, eyes brightened more than ever as an idea dawned on him.

Suddenly he dove into the creek, quickly stood up and froze, his tongue sticking out. He could have sworn that the water was much warmer earlier that day. The water was waist high, but the current was weaker here so he wouldn't have to worry about being swept away.

The young man remained absolutely still; he would have to wait for the fish to come to him. At least that's how it was done it about a dozen movies he had seen. Eyes locked onto the seabed, Dan waited patiently and was soon rewarded.

Another small chrome streak had moseyed its way a few feet from where the brawler stood. Squinting his eyes, the brown-haired kid summed up all of his strength into one single propelled dive.

A slight sting ran through Dan's body as it smacked against the surface of the creek. The shock caused him to wince in pain and abruptly stop to lift half of his frame out while clutching his torso. The failed attempt also scared his dinner away.

The teenager groaned, let out a loud sigh, and once again began trudging back to shore. Suddenly, something brushed against the back of his legs, causing Dan to freeze once again. _What was that_? He turned around in the water to find nothing-unusual swimming behind him. _Whatever it was, that was no fish, _he thought to himself as he began to make his way across the seabed. The boy went a little faster, a certain uneasiness nagging at him. His heart began to beat faster with every step, sweat trickling down his face.

* * *

This was the part he loved the most, the part where his predatory instincts would run free. He had already nearly blown his cover in excitement when he glided past his target, accidentally letting his arm ride over the boy's legs. The creature could almost taste the blood about to be spilled. A pair of crimson eyes widened under the water's surface. Their pupils narrowed into thin slits as they focused on their prey. This would be an easy hunt. The mission was simple: capture and retrieve said target. Ari Batchelder never questioned a mission, but this one led him to wonder. He had spent the past year or so hunting down his treacherous sister and her group of lowlife lackeys and was suddenly pulled out of the goose chase and downgraded to retrieve some random teenage of no significant importance. This kid was no threat to his organization either, barely an adult, so why would his masters want him? What made this boy so special, that they would send out one of their top erasers to bring him back alive? Unless they were running low on test subjects, no that didn't seem right. His masters' associates would always receive fertilized embryos from unsuspecting donors, not kidnap unsuspecting teens. Then again, he never cared about whatever horrible fate faced their test subjects. He didn't care about what happened to this kid. He lived for blood, he lived for the fight, he lived for the vengeance that he would bring down upon his thieving sister. But most of all, he lived for the _hunt_. And that is the only reason why he would enjoy this mission, no matter the prey, as long as he got it.

The mutant pushed the conflicting thoughts out of his mind and got his predator on. Opening his fang filled jaws, Ari crouched down onto the smooth eroded stones that littered the creek floor. His eyes fixed on the brunette's legs, which were on the move towards the bank. It was now or never. With his powerfully enhanced hind legs, he lunged, front claws unsheathed, awaiting the savory flavor of human flesh.

* * *

Dan trusted his instincts. They had never failed him before, or at least he couldn't think of any instances that they had at the time. But right now they were shouting at him that he was in imminent danger. A voice in his kept repeating the same bold statements, **get to shore**, **find Drago**, **and get the hell out of there**.

He didn't stop to think; he had never felt this type of powerful fear before, not even during all of times that the world would literally end before he and Drago would save it from whatever evil that threatened it. This was true fear, and he was terrified. He looked around warily and became confused. There was nothing around him to be afraid of, so why did he feel this way? He cut himself off and moved even faster towards the shore with one idea running through his head. _I have to find Drago, I need to…_ He never finished his thought.

Dan shrieked in pain and shock as several serrated fangs that were as sharp as steak knives punctured his right thigh. Ari wrapped his arms around Dan's legs, digging his reinforced claws into the flesh. The teen's knees buckled and he toppled over into the water. The eraser released his grip on the boy's bleeding legs but not before pinning Dan to the creek floor. The brawler's eyes engulfed in fear and he instinctively began to fight back. He began kicking and punching the mutant, unfortunately the water pressure muffled the attacks, making them useless. Suddenly, the creature clasped its claws around the brunette's neck and began to thrash him around like a ragdoll. Dan struggled to hold his breath and stay conscious until he finally saw his chance. The boy grabbed the eraser's arm, and with all of his strength, managed to pull the appendage towards his mouth. Then, the brawler bit down on the arm hard enough to draw blood. Ari winced as he let go of the human and gripped his injured forearm. The brawler made a beeline for the surface, desperate for oxygen. Blood clouded the water like a thick blanket of fog, tinting the sun's rays that managed to break through the barrier a bright red. The teen gasped, letting the life giving air blast through his exhausted lungs. Despite the blood loss, the brown haired boy managed to crawl up the shoreline. His legs felt like they were ablaze as he attempted to stand. But Dan ignored the pain; he needed to if he wanted to stay alive. He began to limp back the way he came; believing that he miraculously survived a crocodile attack. He realized just how wrong he was as the eraser broke through the surface in a fit of extreme rage. The brawler gasped in shock, the creature was _hideous_. Said creature resembled some sort of ripped wolf man. The wolf man was about 6ft tall with fur covering his entire back, upper arms, and face. It didn't have a shirt, however it was wearing dark blue skinny Abercrombie jeans with a thick chain as a belt. The mutant's wrists and neck were adorned with black leather-spiked belts. Despite all of these menacing features, it was the muzzle/ human fused face that had twisted into a ravenous scowl that left Dan paralyzed with terror. The boy flinched when it spoke with a hoarse voice,

"**You will ~snarl~ pay dearly for what you did to my arm, you insolent son of a bitch!**" Ari watched as the wounded kid began to run away, knowing from the painful screeches that he wouldn't get far. The eraser smirked before leaping into the air far enough to land right in front of the pitiful boy. He grew tired of the crappy chase and tackled his target, landing a direct hit. His victim groaned as he grasped skin on the back of his neck and lifted him upwards.

Dan soon found himself locking eyes with his attacker whose lips molded into an ominous grin. There was no chance of winning; he was wounded and losing blood by the minute. However, he had one last thing he would try, one last attempt to save himself. He opened his mouth, but was cut off by another painful scream. The wolf man had released his scruff, but placed his other hand around a huge chuck of his oak colored hair. The brawler whimpered but refused to cry while a continuous wave of raw pain bashed his head and neck. The next thing he knew, he was airborne. Several sharp cracks sounded as his frame collided with a nearby tree. The force of the throw was strong enough to break a couple of Dan's ribs as well as the tree itself. His body broken, the 17-year-old was certain he would die. But he refused to do so, vowing that he would get a glimpse of his family and friends once again, no matter what. So, summoning every last ounce of willpower in his being, Dan Kuso lifted his head and called, "DRAGOOOO!"

Ari stared at his target, satisfied with his work. And with that, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a syringe.

The last thing that the former brawlers leader remembered was feeling a small prick in his right arm, followed by a series of black spots that clouded his vision. And one final thought,

_ I'm s-sorry…part…ner. _He blacked out.

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**Fixed in p.o.v paragraphs. I'll try to update every few days to a week. Chapter 1 is almost done, either today or tomorrow tops. Next time- meet the flock 3 years later.**

**Well, thanks again. -WingedWolfAlari**


	2. Welcome to Bayview, Flock!

**Hello Readers! I'm sorry for not posting any sooner. I had my grandfather's retirement party and my brother's birthday to deal with at the time. Not to mention I'm working on another story that you'll love. Wow, five minutes after posting I get a follower. YAY! I'm open for any suggestions. A special shout out to Titania's Assistant for being the first to follow Wings of Pyrus. Thanks again! -WingedWolfAlari**

**Disclaimer: Yada yada ya, read disclaimer in first chapter because I'm only writing it once. However, there is a new OC Drayna who belongs to me.**

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**Chapter 1: Welcome to Bayview, Flock!** —

_**3 years later…**_

_Somewhere over the Pacific- 3__rd__ pov_

"Maaaax! Are we there yeeeet?" groaned Gazzy. Max groaned as well, they had been traveling for a couple of days and Gazzy was starting to get antsy. And when it came to Max and her family, "traveling" didn't imply going by car, nor by boat, plane, train, or even on foot. They were special; they had wings. According to the Internet and Fang's blog, the _flock_ is a group of human-avian hybrid kids who were always on the run from their creators, otherwise known as whitecoats. The whitecoats had also created a species of bloodthirsty wolf-human hybrids called erasers to hunt them down and kill them, since the flock's leader, Max, was destined to save the world. The group is organized like this:

(A newbie's guide to the flock)

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Maximum Ride (Max)-

Position- Flock leader/ adopted mother

DNA bird- hawk

Appearance- blonde-brown hair with pink highlights, brown eyes, tanned skin, half Hispanic, 5.8ft tall, 98-100 lbs., 13 ft. wingspan, wings are tan and white, with brown speckles

Powers- Capable of flying at 300 mph speeds, can adapt to breath underwater, the voice her head.

Personality- tomboy, with a witty and sarcastic attitude offset by her soft side

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Fang-

Position- co-leader

DNA bird- raven

Appearance- dark hair and eyes, olive skin, usually wears dark clothes

Powers- invisibility, can adapt to breath underwater, can fly at 250 mph speeds, able to sustain with near fatal injuries, unusual strength.

Personality-silent, mysterious, tends to hide his feelings

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Iggy-

Position- cook/ bomb technician

DNA bird- albatross

Appearance- 6.2 ft. tall, pale skin, strawberry blonde hair, very light blue eyes, wingspan of over 14 ft., blind

Powers- enhanced senses, can feel colors, can see white rooms, skilled bomb maker

Personality- usually sarcastic, hates his blindness

* * *

Nudge-

Position- hacker

DNA bird- spotted owl

Appearance- Darker skinned, dark brown hair and eyes with silver highlights

Powers- knows some the history of any object (mostly computers) after touching it, can attract metal at will

Personality- A total fashionista, tends to know more about what's trendy

* * *

Gasman (Gazzy)-

Position- bomb technician, biologically related to Angel

DNA bird- dove

Appearance-blond hair and blue eyes

Powers- releases potent gastrointestinal gasses, able to replicate any voice, skilled bomb maker

Personality- Immature, jocular, always positive, and a genuine prankster.

* * *

Angel-

Position- "negotiator" Biologically related to Gazzy

DNA bird- dove

Appearance- As the youngest of the flock, she is around 7 years old with blond curly hair and similar blue eyes like her older brother Gazzy.

Powers- telepathy (both reading and controlling), can communicate with fish, can adapt to breath underwater, shape shift, and foretell the future

Personality- Innocent, also sort of a tomboy

* * *

Total-

Position- The dog who's tagging along

DNA bird- not available

Appearance-Toto from the wizard of Oz except with black wings

Powers- Human intelligence can speak English, can jump really high

Personality- witty, sarcastic, often more human than animal

* * *

" Well, it's been about five minutes since you've asked last, so I guess you could say that we are about five minutes closer to land," she replied bluntly as she had done about a couple thousand times before. Her dirty blond hair whipped her face in the wind as she turned her head back to the infinite cobalt blue horizon. The leader noted the rising tide that churned up a delicate spray that dappled the flock's wings. This effect brought on a pleasurable feeling, however it was a problem. Should it continue, the water would cling to the feathers therefore weighing them down, and ultimately resulting in a pretty wet landing. Max began to get anxious; the group was running low on energy already and Gazzy's constant complaining was not helping at all. They needed land and they needed it now, the flock's survival depended on it.

God must have been smiling down upon them that day, as the flock's spirits soared at Iggy's relieved voice that rang out, "LAND HO!" Despite his blindness, Iggy was somehow able to see in his own way, not to mention he was a magnificent cook. It was one of the characteristics along with super hearing that often got the group out of a tight spot, i.e. detecting eraser ambushes.

Needless to say, the silhouettes of several tall buildings crept over the seemingly endless water's edge. The height of said buildings would indicate a small city with a seaport. Though it wasn't a soft meadow, the city held beauty in its own way. Strangely enough, the city gave off a vibe that implied that though the buildings and architecture was brand new, the land had historical significance, which was to be respected.

"It's about time! My back is killing me!" Nudge's high-pitched cry snapped Max out of her thoughts at which she could not help but crack a smile. They had been flying for two days straight, nothing they hadn't done before, however before they took off they were ambushed by a group of erasers without warning. They experienced minor injuries but had yet to land and treat them. The flock deserved a break.

The blonde leader lead on her flock in the familiar V-pattern towards the docks preparing to land in a secluded spot where no one would see them, but not before Total spotted a blur shooting straight towards them.

"Incoming twelve o'clock!" he barked. By pure instinct, the flock performed incredibly sharp turns to avoid getting hit by the blur they now saw. Fang was the closest to the blur and was knocked out of the sky, the blow taking the wind out of him. The flock screamed his name in unison, pulling him out of his daze in just enough time for his onyx colored wings to snap out. He glided down to an abandoned boardwalk and landed softly. The rest of the flock soon followed, except for Iggy, who spun around quickly focusing on picking up the sounds of the speedy blur. He hovered there on the spot, puzzled. Never before had something they encountered moved so fast that he could not detect any remaining trail to follow. After a few more tries, Iggy gave up and joined the rest, only to find that overprotective Max had taken over.

Max was leaning in uncomfortably close to Fang, who had taken his dark shirt off so he could examine the newly acquired large bluish-purple bruise on his shoulder, which clashed with his olive skin. Everyone else was trying to hold back giggles as Fang's face turned into a nice rose color, meanwhile was being overwhelmed by Max's frantic string of questions. If one didn't know any better, you would think that the flock leader really was his mother. After about two minutes straight of this, Fang held up a finger to quiet his leader.

"Max?" he asked. "What? What is it Fang? What's wrong?" she answered anxiously. The black haired teen stuttered, "N-nothing, It's just that… well." Max was quick to react, "What Fang?" "You're just… leaning in a little close, that's all," he replied. Max's cheeks turned bright blood red as she immediately pulled away. The two stared at each other, clearly embarrassed. Thankfully, Angel intruded in on the awkward moment.

"Are you alright Fang? Whatever that was hit you like an out-of-control train. Did you get a good look at it?" the seven-year-old asked curiously. Fang's skin returned to a normal as he pulled his shirt back on relieved by the sudden change in subject. "I didn't get a really good look at it, but it was definitely some sort of living breathing creature." he began. "It was blurry, but it was brown, or maybe it had brown hair I don't know. It was wearing some sort of red clothing and I could've sworn I saw some gold in there somewhere." the sixteen-year-old paused. "That's all I can tell you." The group fell silent, each member occupied in their own thoughts, reflecting on the recent chain of events. Total was the first to speak, "Who cares! We can think about our mystery blur later. We're tired, we're hungry, and we're in unfamiliar territory. So while we are on the subject, WHERE THE HECK ARE WE?"

"Good question." Max replied now completely recovered from the awkward moment. "Alright guys huddle up." The members of the flock gathered around in a small circle, six pairs of eyes focused on Max. "Okay, we need to split up and find out everything we can about this place; cheap places to eat, hiding spots, shopping centers, etc., etc. You know the drill." They all replied in a military style, "Yes ma'am." The blonde continued, "We split up into three teams, Iggy and Nudge," she called out. The two nodded after hearing their names. "You two will be together, Gazzy, Angel, and Total, you guys are a group. And Fang, you're with me." They understood, it wasn't the first time they would all split up; it was a routine. "We'll rendezvous back here at eight o'clock this time zone. Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" they responded once again in unison. It was settled, the flock split up into groups and headed out to the city on foot.

* * *

_Unknown-3__rd__ pov_

The golden sun stood high in the sky, it's heat rained down upon all that the light touched. The waves sparkled as they brushed against the wooden boardwalks, rejecting the gift of warmth that the blinding sphere offered. Among the warehouses and docks in the pier, the brightness shined down on a dark shadowed figure that stood atop the tip of the large metal crane.

Deep maroon orbs gazed out, two dark circles locked on to the unsuspecting newcomers. The figure was adorned with a crimson cloak, which shielded his face and camouflaged the stains that nestled within the fabric's tips. A long but thin lock of milk chocolate hair peeked its way out of the stranger's hood. A ray of sunlight barely reflected off the bloody chrome blade clasped precariously between the hostile's teeth. A low, feral sound no human is capable of making escaped his throat as he pondered the current situation. His enemy had never sent a group of these mutts before. He was positive the lot had the bastards' names written all over them. However, he couldn't shake this feeling of doubt, that maybe he wouldn't have to do away with them. Two other feelings crawled their way up his re-enforced spine along with the doubt, empathy and guilt. Why? Why did he feel this?

His eyes softened; the blonde one had pulled away from the dark one he had knocked out of the sky just a few minutes before. He hadn't gotten a good look at them, but half the group was smaller than the rest. One single thought crashed through his mind causing an unfathomable hatred to boil within his being.

They were _kids_.

The oldest of the group was at least five or six years younger than he was. Not only that, they were just like him; he was no longer alone. He stopped his train of thought when he caught the children huddling together. His brows furrowed as his drive pushed the feelings back down. Nonetheless, his adversaries had attempted these charades before, in hopes that they would draw him out of hiding. They never did, and he wasn't about to start believing them now.

They including him were all monsters, outcasts, deprived of all society, freedom, and most importantly normalcy. He forced these conflicting emotions out of his head completely. He was the only one who held a purpose deep within the core of his heart and soul. The kids split up into three groups and the spark of doubt was extinguished completely. He had a job to do, and no one would stand in his way. He leapt off the tall construction crane, kunai in hand. Just before he had a chance to hit solid concrete, the figure propelled upward with delicate grace. With fire in his eyes, he murmured two small foreboding words, "_Game on."_

* * *

_Somewhere in the city- Nudge's pov._

I didn't object to Max's pairings, nobody did. I had been paired with Iggy dozens of times before. In fact, I don't recall ever being partnered with anyone else. It's always been Iggy and I. I glanced to my right and my brown-skinned cheeks began to warm. I've had this feeling many times before, but I never took the time to think about it, until now. Iggy's cute strawberry blond hair ruffled in the light breeze as he walked casually beside me. I sighed in admiration; he was tall for his age with an impressive muscular build. Whenever he would make eye contact, those beautiful pale eyes, though sightless, would appear as if they were staring right into one's soul. His jocular personality defined him well, since he and Gazzy were the dynamic duo responsible for almost every single prank that was pulled on the rest of the flock and masters of wielding explosions. When he wasn't plotting with Gazzy, he would be there to lift the rest of the flock's spirits on a dreary day, or cooking the next meal, which would obviously deserve five stars. What can I say; it's almost impossible to not like Iggy, but as I'm just now shedding light on these emotions I'm feeling, maybe I'm feeling something else for him.

"WATCH OUT!" I was immediately pulled out of my thoughts when Iggy yanked me out of the middle of the intersection. I gasped when several cars passed rather quickly, their horns blaring in annoyance. I cautiously looked up to see Iggy who had his long arms wrapped protectively around me. My world seemed to slow down considerably as I got lost in his enchanting eyes. I snap back to reality and my cheeks turn red hot with embarrassment. After a few minutes of silence, we pulled apart and I gently pushed away the large bundle of white dyed hair that had been dangling in front of my face. "You need to get your head out of the clouds, Nudge. Who knows what Max would do to me if we didn't come back in one piece," Iggy light scolding me with his signature joking manner added to the mix. I couldn't help but giggle at that statement. Max was the mother figure in the flock. She was the oldest, not to mention she was the one who took control when we escaped the school for the first time in our lives. To say she was overprotective was an understatement.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" an unknown voice made the two of us jump about six feet in the air. We turned to see a girl in about her very early twenties. She had fair skin, chestnut brown eyes, and wavy light cream orange hair that went down to her lower back. She wore a pale green tank top with straps that wrapped around her neck, skinny white capris, a pale yellow sundress with a split in the middle that ran right up to below her chest, and a pair of white and green heels. She spoke in a soft and comforting voice. (Guess who!) "I'm sorry I startled you, it's just that you nearly got hit by a car, and I,"

"It's okay, we were just caught off guard," Iggy cut her off and paused for a few seconds before asking, "Hey do you live around here?"

"No, I actually live in Moscow with my grandfather. I'm just here to," she paused and her head drooped, "to visit." I felt Iggy tense at her tone as did I. He had unintentionally hit a nerve and had no idea how to fix this awkward moment. So, I took matters into my own hands.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. We're just new here, and by new I mean the two of us and the rest of our group hitchhiked our way here a few days ago and have no idea where we are." Her eyes lit up at this.

"Well why didn't you just say so!" she exclaimed. "I may not live here, but I do know the place pretty well. Tell you what, how about we head over to the café for some coffee, my treat."

This caught the two of us completely off guard. "No, it's okay. We don't want to intrude on your time," Iggy, who had overcome his embarrassment by now, said.

"I insist; you and the rest of your group shouldn't be wandering around the city with no place to stay. A very good friend of mine owns the café. Besides, I didn't have anything to do today anyways." the girl replied cheerfully. Iggy and I exchanged a nervous glance and reluctantly followed the Russian girl. "Oh, by the way, my name is Alice. What's yours?"

My mind was buzzing about whether I should answer or not. The flock's trust in humans had severely diminished over the years, mainly because of their time in the school. However, I had always believed that we should preserve the good humans while we could; everyone deserves a chance. I would just have to survive Max's rant later.

"It's nice to meet you, Alice. My name's Nudge and this is Iggy."

* * *

_Some park in the city-Angel's pov_

It was a relief to rest my wings after traveling for so long. I was the youngest, so in turn my wings are the smallest and still not completely developed. None of the others flock members seem to realize that it takes a lot more effort for me to fly than it does for them. But did I ever complain? Nope; and I didn't care. After all, the more I exercised now, the better fit I would be in the long run.

The three of us had somehow found our way to a park somewhere in the center of the city. Everywhere around us we would see children laughing and playing in the well-kept grass. Every once in a while we would pass by a young couple enjoying themselves under a tree. I couldn't help but smile; these people lead normal lives, but they probably didn't realize just how lucky they were. My own thoughts began to wander from mind to mind, peering in on the personal and sometimes _humorous _thoughts of others. Max had often told me to mind my own business when it came to my telepathy, using it only when necessary. What can I say; old habits are hard to break. I stopped when I got into Total's mind and overheard him say in his head, "_What is wrong with that kid?"_

"What's up, Total?" I asked curiously. "Over there on the bench, that boy is talking to his shoulder." I immediately followed my gaze to a young boy sitting on the bench nearby. Gazzy also stopped to look at him. The boy, who looked about sixteen, had very dark teal colored spikey hair and tan eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt under a blue tee that had purple trimming and khaki pants. (Minor plot point) My eyes widened when I realized that he wasn't actually talking to his shoulder. He was talking to something on his shoulder. Turning my head away from him, I noticed that a bunch of other people had similar things on their shoulders too. Creepy. "Gazzy, this is getting weird, we should leave." "Right behind ya sis." he agreed. We began running, Total casually gaining the lead every few seconds. We came to an absolute stop as we stared upward at the structure in front of us.

It was a tall pillar that I figured marked the center of the park. But that wasn't what bothered me the most; it was the statue on top. The statue portrayed two figures shaking hands. On the right was a large man in a business suit; that also didn't set me on edge. However, on the left was a humanoid-like creature with a reptilian like appearance. The creature had several horn blades that sprung from its head, back, elbows, knees, and on the tip of its snake-like tail. Its back was also sporting a pair of sharp narrow wings that rested in the same position that ours did whenever we chose to reveal them on a ground level.

I clutched my angel teddy bear Celeste closer to my chest as I backed up a few steps in fear. Gazzy rested a reassuring hand on my shoulder while Total let out a low canine growl towards the pillar. "Max will want to know about this." Gazzy implied in a concerned tone. And with that, the three of us took off at an inhuman speed away from the creepy statue. Flashes of green blew right past us as we continued to run. We rounded a corner and found ourselves on a fenced cliff side view, which was accompanied by a bench and a fountain that faced the bordering ocean. Not that I cared about whatever was there at the time, we just continued running. The metal fencing that prevented people from falling off ended, and we edged closer and closer to the edge to avoid a head on collision with any oncoming people.

Suddenly, my foot made contact with the tip of the cliff's edge and the ground collapsed underneath it. Gravity became my enemy as its forced pulled me over the edge. "GAZZY!" I screamed as I held out my small hand and continued to fall. Time seemed to slow dramatically like it does at the suspenseful parts in movies as my brother used his inborn reflexes to catch my hand. Our fingers managed to touch, but he just wasn't quick enough. A look of panic entered his baby blue eyes when my hand slipped through his fingers. Total had managed to get his canines around the fabric in my sundress, only to have a chuck of cloth ripped away by the sheer force. "ANGEL!" they both screamed in unison.

Acting purely on instinct, I flipped over, preparing to spread my wings before my body would make contact with the rocks below. I never got the chance. A pair of arms wrapped around my body. At first I thought they were Gazzy's, but I immediately turned down the notion since said arms were much longer than my brother's. They actually reminded me of Fang, but the skin wasn't olive like the dark teen. Suddenly, the world was one big blur as I was shot upwards. The next time I opened my eyes, I was back on top of the cliff well away from the edge. Gazzy and Total weren't anywhere in sight, so I could only guess that I was further down the path I had been running on only a few minutes before. A calm but stern voice spoke from behind me, "You shouldn't be running so close to the edge. You would have gotten seriously hurt if I hadn't gotten there in time." I turned around and found myself gawking. A young man in his early twenties stood in front of me. He had long dark black hair similar to Fang's, but it was shorter since it went down to the stranger's shoulders. One particularly large lock hung in his face. He had a nice lean build and slightly tanned skin that blended well with his rich brown eyes. He wore a ninja-like green shirt with yellow trimming, a black and green jacket with yellow trimming and a white collar and pockets, white pants, pale red fingerless gloves, and black shoes. He also wore a black wristband that seemed to give off a strong energy. He turned towards the cliff's edge; "I need to talk to Marucho about putting in some more fencing here."

"Thank you for saving me, uh I don't know your name." I thanked him. He looked at me with a puzzled expression "I'm new here." I butted in. His eyebrows furrowed, "Shun, Shun Kazami." "Oh, well my name's Angel and once again thank you Shun, I'll make sure that doesn't happen again. My brother and I were just…" I was cut off by a familiar sound of barking, and turned to see Gazzy and Total bounding towards us. He abruptly stopped in front of us and was panting really hard. As soon as he ceased his panting, he asked, "Angel! Are you alright? We were so worried about you!" and so on. It took a few minutes and an intervention from Shun to calm down Gazzy's panic attack. After that we had brief introductions.

"Thank you for saving my sister Shun." Gazzy thanked Shun yet again. Apparently, my savior was a master ninja who just happened to be strolling through the area when I fell off the cliff. Then, out of nowhere, another voice spoke up, "Hey, don't forget to thank me! I was the one who spotted her." Gazzy and I looked around completely confused; there was no one else here. The voice spoke again, "Hello! I'm right here!" I cautiously turned and gasped when a green ball hopped up off of Shun's shoulder. Then, it popped out to reveal what looked like a human like form. It was kind of like a Hasbro transformer, except instead of a giant robot turning into a car, it was a mini figure that turned into a plastic ball. Gazzy and I were now physically unable to form words. We just stood there with our mouths wide open. I could've sworn that Total fainted. Shun then said, "Oh yeah, I forgot. This is my bakugan partner Ventus Jakkor." Jakkor floated in the air, rising and lowering in a slow and continuous pattern until he tilted his entire body as if he was cocking his head. "Why are you two staring at me as if you've never seen a bakugan before?" Gazzy finally regained the ability to speak, "Maybe because we haven't." Shun sighed and tipped his head downward. "This, is going to be a long day."

* * *

_A football field outside the city, 3__rd__ pov._

Max and Fang were making their way around the surrounding area, taking notes on possible crowded places to hide or places to eat/take off and so on and so forth. However, the two kept their distance from one another ever since the pier. Each of them had something for the other, but both of them were just too darn stubborn to admit it. Sooner or later they got tired of the hustling bustling city and managed to end up in a much more quiet neighborhood. Every once in a while, Max would sneak a glance at Fang before he returned it. As soon as he did, both of them would quickly turn their heads back to the sidewalk. This continued several times until an American football school team practicing in the field they were walking past drew their attention. They stopped to watch the team for a few minutes before resuming their journey, not paying them any heed. At least not until…

"INCOMING!" one of the team quarterbacks shouted towards them. Max instinctively braced herself for whatever was coming at them. She heard the loud sound of skin meeting leather and looked up to see Fang, who had firmly caught the speeding football with little to no trouble. The football player who warned them ran towards them, stopping in front of them with a sigh. He took off his helmet to reveal a burly eighteen-year-old. His salmon orange cord style hair was tied into a ponytail, and his green eyes sparkled with admiration.

"Dude nice catch! And sorry about the ball; I wasn't paying attention." He spoke in one of those Hawaiian surfer accents. "Thanks, and no worries." Fang replied. Max completed his sentence, "Stuff happens." The player sighed with relief, taking the football from Fang. "Name's Jake Vallory. I haven't seen you guys around here before, who are you?" Fang was unprepared for this. Whenever normal humans would ask the flock stuff like this, it was up to Max to decide whether that stuff should be revealed or not. Max was already one step ahead of him. "Max, and this is Fang. We and the rest of our group have no clue as to where we are; could you tell us?" she asked.

"Well, I have to get back to practice. Tell you dudes what, a very good friend of mine lives down the road from here, and she would be more than happy to fill you in on everything you and your group need to know about Bayview." Jake suggested. This sounded promising to both flock members, who looked at each other with a new hope in their eyes. "That's a great idea Jake. Are you sure your friend will let complete strangers into her house?" Max asked. "Well of course Max, Mrs. Kuso will take in any company she can. And if it makes you feel any better," Jake removed a red wristband from his right arm and held it out to the flock leader. "Tell her Jake sent you and give her this, I can always pick it up later." Max took the wristband and followed Jake's movements as he pointed further down the path they had been traveling on. "Just follow the path, take a left on the next street, it's the third house on the right with an impressive flowerbed, you can't miss it." Max and Fang both nodded, "Thanks Jake!" before running down the sidewalk. Jake called out to them, "See ya later dudes, and I hope you guys have empty stomachs, Mrs. Kuso loves preparing food for her company!" "Noted!" Fang called back as Jake jogged back towards his team.

The duo had followed the quarterback's exact instructions and they had to admit; it was an impressive flowerbed. Roses, lilacs, daffodils, and many other varieties of flowers littered the bed of soil in the front of the house. They walked up to the door of the Kuso residence. To say they were nervous was an understatement. They didn't get much experience in these situations, they would just have to wing it, no pun intended. Finally, after several minutes that seemed like several hours passed, Fang slowly raised his hand, and rang the doorbell.

* * *

_The Cliffside-Drayna's pov. _

I flew over the Bakuganland cliff for the second time today while on patrol. My charge/guardian seemed to be really tense at the arrival of these strangers. Normally, we would intercept and do away with any Eraser that dared to set foot in Bayview. But this time, he hesitated. He said that he needed more time to ponder over the newbies. I honestly didn't know what they possessed that would cause him to spiral into this state. However, I never questioned his motives, for he saved me from my torturers and gave me a purpose in life. He promised me that he would protect me no matter what. He saw something in me that no one else did. He said I wasn't ready to know the truth of my parentage, but he said he would tell me someday. Because of that, I pledged eternal loyalty to him and him alone. So, naturally, I was concerned for him in this state.

As I thought about this, something shiny caught my eye on the rocks below. I squinted and descended a little to get a closer look. My eyes widened when I realized what it was.

_Flashback starts:_

_ I was patrolling the coast that bordered the city for the first time out of two circles that I would perform today. I glimpsed two young children and their black dog running as if it were the end of the world, dangerously close to the edge. Marucho really needed to have some fencing installed alongside there. I turned my head for only a second only to turn it back and gasp as the younger child fell off the edge. I wouldn't be able to catch her in time let alone be able to catch her at all_. I sighed with relief when an all too familiar green blur zipped in, catching the child and getting it to safety. 'God bless you, Shun_' I thought to myself. But, before flying away to my next checkpoint, I caught sight of something shiny falling where the younger child had been. I continued to fly, without giving it a second thought._

_Flashback ends._

I realized that the child's dropped object wasn't returned. This was a chance to temporarily put my partner's mind at ease. He always enjoyed doing people little favors like this without making himself known, especially with children. I flew down to the shiny object, only to be overcome with sympathy for the child. The object was a white, plush teddy bear in an angel outfit, halo and all. It was quite dirty and needed a good wash. After some touching up, the child would be overjoyed by the return of her bear. I smiled at my generosity and contacted my savior telepathically, : This is Drayna, can you hear me? :

: Loud and clear, Fireball. What's up? :

: I found a good deed for us to do. :

: (Sigh) that's good news; I could use some positive reinforcement. :

: Yes, you could. I'm down by the Bakuganland Cliffside. See you there. :

: Ha ha, see you soon, sweetheart. :

* * *

**OMG 20 pages! Finally, the first chapter is up! Sorry once again about taking a little longer to update. As for now, I'm going to begin my other story, Every Bot has its Day. Check it out. Next time, further flock/brawler action. I'll update soon. -WingedWolfAlari**

**2/6/13 Update- The first chapter of Every Bot has it's Day is done! As soon as I run it through my friend who's helping with the story and post it. I will begin Chapter 2 of Wings of Pyrus -stay tuned-WingedWolfAlari.**


	3. Reactions to a talking sphere

**Hello Readers! I'm back with the next chapter for Wings of Pyrus. My views exploded after uploading Every Bot has its Day and it brigs a tear to my eye to see that people are enjoying my stories. So, thanks a lot you guys, you're awesome! . Now I know it's been a little longer since I've updated, only because I barely have time between this and art I do inspired by this. Cross your fingers that I'll figure something out to get the art up on my profile. God, I need a deviantart account. BTW, 'bondi blue' is a color, look it up since it appears later on in the chapter. **

**Last time we left the flock, they landed in Bayview after an interesting encounter with a strange blur. The team split up into three groups to cover more ground and get information about the surrounding area. In the process, a car almost hits Nudge, Angel falls off a cliff, and a football almost pummels Max and Fang. Now, each group has met some interesting characters, some local, some not. And who is Drayna and her partner? What will become of our favorite mutant bird kids and brawlers? Find out only in fanfiction.**

**Disclaimer: Look in the first chapter. Drayna is mine.**

**Thanks again—WingedWolfAlari out**

**Chapter 2- Reactions to a talking sphere.**

_The café-Nudge's pov_

Iggy and I had followed Alice for about two more blocks away from the street where I nearly got turned into a pancake. Iggy was making idle conversation with the brown-eyed girl, but I didn't bother to listen to what they were saying. I was once again hypnotized by Iggy's build. Geez I really need to get this under control. Maybe this is what Max feels around Fang. We often caught her just staring at him like I was doing now with the blind albatross winged kid. I stiffened on the inside. The entire flock minus Fang would always tease her about making sheep's eyes at the olive-skinned teen. If Max ever caught sight of me now, I would never hear the end of it.

Suddenly, Iggy swerved his head towards me as if he knew what I was doing. I nearly jumped five feet into the air and pulled a Max as I quickly tore my gaze away from him and onto the sidewalk. How on Earth does he do that? I was pulled from my own thoughts when Alice slowed to a stop and turned back to us.

"Here we are." she said cheerfully as she gestured to the small building next to the three of us with her hand.

It looked like a nice place, very welcoming. I glimpsed Iggy in the corner of my eye. He had his head tilted upwards, exposing his nose to wave after wave of scrumptious scents that emanated from inside. I also noticed that his head was tilted slightly to the left. He was also consuming all possible sounds, isolating one completely and filing it into the back of his mind before shutting it out and moving on to the next one. He often did these things when experiencing new things and seeing new places. Even though he couldn't see it, Iggy would always use his other strengthened senses to the limit to make up for eyesight. Doing so had provided him with a sixth sense, literally.

I noticed Alice was giving him a strange look, so I dug my elbow into the strawberry blonde haired teen's ribcage, which resulted in a grunt of discomfort. He shot an ice-cold glare at me. I fought back those submissive bird instincts as his eyes bore into my very soul like a drill. Those eyes. I mentally slapped myself. Now this was serious and absolutely pathetic. I shouldn't be able to be swayed by his charm while he was trying to warn me of treading on very thin ice with only his pale blue eyes.

I immediately switched the subject as I uttered, "Alice." at a level so low only someone with uncanny hearing would be able to pick it up. His cheeks briefly went red with embarrassment before their natural color and jocular attitude came trotting back.

He blindly turned back to Alice and forced a smile on his face as he said, "This looks great; I'm starved!" There was a miniscule hint of nervousness in his voice. He rushed towards the door and opened it for us, a small bell attached to the doorframe tinkled at the motion, "Ladies first."

Alice seemed to giggle as she went inside the café, thanking him on the way in. I stopped at the doorway and Iggy leaned in towards me, "Sorry about that, thanks for the save." I couldn't help but smirk at the very embarrassed and apologetic expression on his face.

"You owe me." I whispered under my breath as I strolled into the building; Iggy followed shortly afterwards.

I wouldn't say that the place was bustling, but there were a good amount of customers here at the time, enough that there was no empty booth. I was about to apologize to Alice for any inconvenience, but her face seemed to light up when she dashed over to one of the larger booths. There were two guys sitting at that table. The first guy had darker skin. His hair was a silver white color and stood up in a spikey fashion. He wore a black shirt that had two arrows pointing in opposite directions printed across his chest; a series of purple stripes were located on his left short sleeve. He also had on a pair of light grey pants with black defined pockets, a red belt, and a pair of black and purple boots. His right wrist had an interesting bracelet wrapped around it that almost looked electronic. I didn't like the look of him, not because he showed suspicious behavior or anything, but because of his eyes. They were yellow like an eraser's, though his pair seemed a little more reptilian in appearance.

The other guy definitely made me feel better. He had short bondi blue hair that was so neat that there was not a single spot where his hair stuck out. He wore a long sleeve white dress shirt with red stripes on the shoulders and ends of the sleeves. He also had on a pair of corduroy jeans and white shoes. His cerulean blue eyes were calm and peaceful. Strangely enough he also had one of those bracelets too. I had been noticing a lot of people wearing them around here lately. Perhaps it was a fashion trend. If that was the case I need to get some for me and the rest of the flock. There was no point in blending in if we weren't going in style.

The two guys turned to our guide with somber looks on their faces that were quickly replaced with mild smiles. Alice and those two must know each other. Iggy and I exchanged hesitant looks with each other before reluctantly following the girl. Alice asked them if we could sit with them at which they politely accepted.

"Guys, this is Nudge and Iggy. They're new to town so I'm showing them around." The tan-eyed girl introduced us.

The guy I liked scooted out of the booth before he stood up with his hand held out to us. His voice was calm and collected, "Linus Claude, at your service. It's a pleasure to meet you and welcome you to Bayview."

Okay it's official; I really like this guy. So I put on my best smile and took his hand, "Same here. It's nice to meet you too, Linus." Iggy simply nodded.

"Always the gentleman, huh Claude?" It was the lizard-eyed guy who butted in. I inwardly narrowed my eyes at the joke.

"Well excuse me for trying to be polite. What about you, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Linus retorted.

The silver haired boy loudly cleared his throat, "Well of course, I was getting to that." I sensed Iggy's hostility as he turned toward us. I guess that since he couldn't see his eyes, something else about him must have triggered Iggy's sixth sense. Which in case anyone didn't know, the flock is codependent on. So, you can imagine my fight or flight response chances rising to an all time high right now.

"My name is Ren Krawler. It's always a pleasure to meet a new face." Oh joy, his last name is "Krawler"; that totally raises my trust in him. I couldn't bring myself to answer him, but Iggy had the guts to do it for me.

"Touché. The pleasure is all ours. How about we sit down now and order? Anyone game?" There goes Iggy, once again saving me from any further trouble by abruptly changing the subject.

I was quick to sit down next to Linus, while Alice took a seat in between Ren and Iggy. All of us, minus Iggy, grabbed some menus that were stacked in the middle of some salt and peppershakers and the napkin dispenser at the end of our table. We mostly mused about our orders and asked them what they preferred, normal stuff.

I jerked my head up from the menu when three similar dark and raspy voices spoke, "Aren't you hungry, Iggy?" one asked. "Yeah, earlier today you said-," another voice finished the sentence, "-you were starving."

I looked around to find no one talking to us, much to my surprise. The voice was coming from Alice's direction or behind her. The only problem was that our booth occupied a corner of the café. There was nothing behind her except for a brick wall. Neither Ren, Linus, nor Alice seemed the least bit phased at all by these ominous voices, and for a second I thought I had literally lost my marbles.

"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot- " Alice blurted out slightly embarrassed. She reached over her right shoulder fumbling around her orange sherbet hair. When she pulled her hand back out, a small black and purple ball rested in her palm. "This is my partner, Darkus Alpha Hydranoid."

Scratch that, Alice has completely lost her marbles. I would have given her an 'ARE YOU CRAZY?' expression had the sphere in her cupped hand not popped out of shape a split second before. A startled squeak erupted from my throat when the voices spoke again as if they were taking turns to complete one single sentence.

"It is—nice—to meet you. Though I would have—probably shown myself sooner—or later,—but you were a bit shaken up—after almost getting hit by that car."

A small drop of animated sweat slowly made its way down the back of my head. The world had gone silent as time itself stopped. I paid no heed to the looks of worry and confusion that the three non-enhanced people were giving me. Hydranoid cocked his entire plastic body off to one side, trying to identify what the problem was. Well, at least that's what I thought he was doing. It's was hard to recognize any of his emotional expressions, what with his resemblance to an inanimate toy. A few more sound deprived seconds passed before a strawberry blonde spoke, his eyes weren't focused one the one being spoken to, but rather Alice's position,

"Well, it's good to meet you too Hydranoid. Your voice sounds cool. If you don't mind me asking before I answer your question, where did you come from? I didn't hear the customer bell ring."

It was the locals turn to be confused now. I had finally snapped out of my trance-like state to spare a glance at Iggy's sightless eyes, awaiting a response. I was dumbfounded, here in front of us was a talking ball, yet they and said ball were all stuck on Iggy's question. Not to mention that Hydranoid didn't faze Iggy.

_Wait a minute… _A mental light bulb lit in my head. _Oh God, I'm such a butthead!_ I cleared my throat to gain everyone's attention. There was a pregnant pause as I mulled over how to explain our predicament without offending my flock mate. I sighed, "Guys… Iggy can't see him." Silence.

I don't think that I could have seen any redder faces in my life. Even Hydranoid's face or faces received a slight red tint. But, as if this day couldn't get any weirder, two more balls flew from the other two humans and popped out on the table. The one that came from Linus was slightly transparent. Its body resembled a big ruby. The ball's very core appeared as if it was on fire, allowing the jewel facets to sparkle. Ren's toy ball didn't look anything like the other two, other than the fact that it had a blackish purple coloration like Hydranoid.

"I'm sorry, we all are. My name is Linehalt, Ren's bakugan partner. You must understand that none of us had any idea that Iggy was without sight. We bakugan are unable to develop disab-, I mean conditions like that. It wasn't until quite recently that that particular aspect of humanoids was even explained to us." Linehalt said.

"I'm sorry too. The name's Rubanoid, and I speak for everyone especially Hydra when I say that we are sorry if we offended you in any way." The red bakugan butted in, only to be butted out of the way by Hydranoid.

"Rubanoid—, I am—perfectly capable of—apologizing for myself—, thank you. Iggy, I am sor—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, enough with the sorry fest, guys. I'm not offended. People make mistakes all the time." Iggy interrupted him. I smiled; the albatross winged teen never got ticked off that easily. And what Iggy said rang true, especially in this case. Too many people would never think that he was blind due to how much he would interact with objects using his extreme hearing instead of seeing. Iggy only smiled at them before reverting back to his original subject, "So, how did the three of you get in here, and what's a bakugan?"

Insert anime exasperated falling down motion, that's how I would describe the "bakugans'" reaction. Ren had already picked his jaw up off the floor,

"Where are you two from? It'd have to be pretty isolated if you've never heard of the bakugan species. Especially since they've already integrated into my home planet, Earth, and three others."

"YOU'RE AN ALIEN?" I couldn't help but shout.

"You're kidding? She's kidding, right?" Rubanoid asked nervously.

"It appears that we have a lot to bring you up to speed on. You two won't be able to function in this city unless you fully understand our story and us ourselves. Fortunately, there is a way we can do so that won't take several days. But that also brings us to another problem." Linehalt inquired.

"Which is?" I asked. He didn't answer me. Instead he turned to Iggy.

"Iggy, you are-" He paused guiltily.

"Blind." Iggy finished his sentence putting on a very serious face. "And you don't believe that you will be able to explain everything because you think I won't be able to picture it in my mind. Is that the problem?" he asked calmly.

"Y-yes." Linehalt stuttered dipping his head.

Iggy straightened his position. His serene eyes were fixed on the dark bakugan. The corners of his mouth creased as he grinned, "Well, I am able."

All of their heads shot up in surprise at this. Linus gained his voice back, "B-but, how?"

"Iggy wasn't born blind. He became blind when," I paused for a second. "I won't go into that. But Iggy has seen before and remembers what he has seen. Not to mention that his other senses will now tell him twice as much as his eyes ever did, to the point where he doesn't need anyone or anything to help guide him."

Linehalt sprung up from the table, landing on his partner's shoulder. His tiny yellow eyes shined with interest as if he was smiling. "Well, that's good to hear. If you're ready, we can go to the Stadium. There everything will be explained."

The others nodded and got up from their seats, only to freeze when, "Hold up." The strawberry blonde interjected. All eyes were on him.

"Did you say that there was no way either of us could even function in this city, without knowing about the bakugan?"

"Yes." Was the reply.

Iggy slowly turned to look at me. His eyes were suddenly full of concern while mine only began to fill with confusion. "The others."

Realization struck me like an eraser with brass knuckles. The rest of the flock needed to be filled in about this. The flock as a whole is capable of accomplishing deeds that would be considered humanly impossible. However, when it came to laying low and blending in, not doing so raises suspicion. If that were ever the case, we would need to take action, quickly. If we had the option, we would just settle down someplace and live out the rest of our artificial lives until we expired, or not.

"There are others?" Alice asked.

"Yes, Iggy and I traveled here with the rest of our group. When we arrived at the docks, we split up to cover more ground. We're supposed to meet them back there at around eight o'clock." I spared a glance at the clock on the wall, seven twenty-six. We would need to hurry in order to be on time.

"Hey, why don't we go with you to meet this group of yours? Perhaps we can work out an official tour of the city and introduce you to the world of Bakugan. Do you guys have a place to stay?" Rubanoid suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea, and no we currently don't have anywhere to spend the night." Iggy answered.

Alice, who had not spoken in quite some time, was already on top of it. "Oh that's terrible. But I'm sure Marucho would be more than happy to have you live at his house while you guys get everything straightened out." The rest of them nodded in agreement.

I was truly surprised. I had never met any group of individuals who were so kind and devoted to help us, regardless whether they knew us or not. So, in an attempt not to appear desperate, I had to object, "Oh you don't have to do all that. It's not like we haven't gone a night outside before. It's nothing really." _Shit that came out wrong!_

"Nonsense. You guys have already had a rough day; you deserve it. Besides Marucho has more than enough room." Ren said. I had once again lost my voice to this guy. I felt guilty for judging him, but still, I still didn't trust his alien eyes.

"If you insist, we shall." Iggy suddenly chirped. We had exited our booth completely forgetting to order food. Once again, we were mingling among the bustling sidewalk. We were picking up the pace, eager to regroup with the flock. "A word of advice for you guys. Our leader Max is as tough as nails; she is not to be underestimated. But don't worry; that's just the outside. She'll soften up to you once she and the others realize how awesome you are!" Iggy all but shouted to send his message to the locals over all the city noise.

_Geez! How many people live I this city?_ I thought as I narrowly dodged another rushing civilian. Our sharp reflexes prevented ourselves from collisions with other people in cities; a useful advantage when trying to get a pack of Erasers off your tail. I just had to jinx it, didn't I?

BAM!

I grunted in discomfort when I met what was probably a Kenyan head on, the force nearly knocked me off my feet. "Crap!"

I had slowed to a stop, my head still throbbing as if Angel had brushed through it with her telepathy like a fine-toothed comb. "Sorry, I didn't see-" There was no one around who looked like a human avian mix had hit them. Whoever did was long gone. "-you?"

"YO NUDGE!" I swerved to find Ig and the others much further down the path. "HURRY UP OR MAX'LL HAVE OUR HEADS!" I continued to run, eventually catching up with them. The time was seven thirty on the nose. But my mind was still occupied on processing what had just happened a few seconds earlier.

**I know, a much shorter chapter. Let me explain. I suffered for I forgot how long from a severe case of writer's block, and laziness. Instead of letting you guys suffer for who knows how long for the rest of the original chapter I was going to write, I decided to be nice and divide chapter 2 into three chapters. It's almost spring break, so I'll have a bunch of time to perform some miracles. **

**On my profile, I have posted my new FB page devoted to my artwork. Check it out and PM me if you have any requests. As always, I'm open to any suggestions. Please review, fav, and follow my stories. Thanks again.**

**WingedWolfAlari out.**


	4. Ninjas

**Hello Readers! WingedWolfAlari and I'm finally back with another chapter of Wings of Pyrus after who knows how freakin' long. I'm soooooooooo sorry about making you all wait so long, but it just so happened that I finally got some good ideas for like, ALL of my stories THE DAY BEFORE FINALS WEEK! So yeah, that was really annoying. I bet it's annoying when you really want to write some new chapters for your stories but you can't because you need to study for the finals and if you don't make good grades on it the fact that your college life is at stake soooooooo yeah you get the idea. **

**But on the bright side, SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER! And that means more updates, and more updates means happy you guys, and more happy you guys mean more ratings, and more ratings makes a happier me, and a happier me means a better quality story, and the cycle continues.**

**I can't wait to get these next few chapters under the belt, cause they aren't the ones I want to write. I would rather write about Drayna and her friend, and jaw-dropping connections and realizations about parental lineage, and fights between human avians, etc, etc. But I have to write about the other humans because the story won't make sense without them.**

**Alright I'm done ranting; let's get on with the story shall we.**

**Disclaimer: OCs are mine.**

**Chapter 3- Ninjas**

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_Somewhere in the city-Total's pov_

When you live a life like mine, a talking fuzzy, black dog, who flies around with a bunch of crazy bird kids, away from a group of maniacal scientists, you learn to expect the unexpected, especially now.

Ninjas.

It HAD to be ninjas.

And let's not forget the kicker, there were ALIENS too! Fortunately, none of them were the stereotypical green Martians asking anyone to take them to any of our world leaders. Or the ones that kidnapped people, locked them in suspended animation tubes, and morphed themselves to look like the kidnapped, and tried to blend in with society. The thought sent shivers down my spine.

However, from what I've heard from the ninja and I think the ball's name was Jak-something; the Earth had nearly been destroyed, THREE TIMES! And the flock has heard neither squeak nor peep about any of this. Aren't we supposed to be the ones saving the world; after all, it was _prophesized._

Anyways, we apparently were on our way to some place where the whole story could be told to us. This smells like a trap of some sort. But if it was, then Angel would have given us a hint by now. I looked up at Gazzy while we were walking, who looked back with his light blue eyes. He didn't seem to hot about this situation either.

"So Jakkor," Angel asked. That's what his name was. "How long have you and the other Bakugan been here on Earth?"

"Well, I'd say that we as a species migrated to Earth about four or so years ago. But the Earth has had Bakugan for much longer."

"Interesting." Said Gazzy. "When did you come to Earth? And how did you and Shun meet?"

Shun answered for him, "Jakkor arrived on Earth during the Great Migration like most of the Bakugan here. He and I came to know each other when he requested that I take him under my wing for more ninja training." Jakkor nodded in agreement.

Though we were in a strange place, and were just learning the basics about a subject that was old news to the rest of the world, I still found the story pretty interesting as well. I inwardly chuckled to myself at the sight of Angel and her brother staring at Shun and his partner in awe. After all, it isn't everyday that you get to meet a ninja master, let alone get escorted by one.

I wonder how the rest of the flock would react to Shun.

Nudge probably would have blurted out something fashion related.

Iggy probably wouldn't care all that much; technically he's our ninja.

Fang looks a lot like Shun, but with him being the isolationist he is, probably wouldn't be open to a long discussion.

And Max, hmm, well I have no earthly idea.

"That's a pretty neat dog you've got there, what kind of dog is Total?" Jakkor asked. I perked my head up at the sound of my name.

"Uhhhh…" was all Gazzy could say.

"We're not that sure," Angel replied. "We thick he has some Scottie though."

I suppressed the urge to snap at her in public. A bit of Scottie, my ass! I had done the research long ago during my honeymoon with Akila. According to my research, I am a _Canis lupus familiaris_, a Cairn terrier. I am a purebred canine, not some random mutt! The nerve of that girl! I'll have to talk to her about that later after this mess gets cleaned up.

We continued to walk through town; and it was quite the bustling one indeed. All the while, we passed by dozens of shops; some of them were completely related to Bakugan. We also went by several food courts. As of now, I refuse to believe the accusations being thrown at me. I did not swipe that guy's hot dog. (burp)

And even if I did, a fellow's got to eat right, and my stomach hasn't seen a single crumb in a good day and a half. I am STARVING!

Out of desperation, I began looking around frantically for anything that I could possibly consume without getting in trouble. Unfortunately for my poor tummy, there was none.

Jeez, they pick the streets clean, but don't have the sense to put a fence up along that coastline. Hmph, humans.

I suddenly caught sight of a clock on the side of a building during my search for scraps. The time was 7:34 PM.

Oh my dog, how could have the time passed so quickly! We only had 26 minutes to get back to the warehouses in order to avoid the wrath of Maximum Ride. Now I kind of wish that a body snatcher alien thing would pop out and put me out of my misery. Alas, none would come. So, I inwardly sighed before nudging Gazzy and bolting in the direction of the clock.

"TOTAL! GET BACK HERE!" Angel yelled. And the three gave chase after little old me.

Once I had reached the building, I reared up on my two hind legs, supported by the brick wall, and began yapping crazily up at the big clock.

"Total, what were you thinking running off like that. You really need to break that troublesome habit of yours." Gazzy lightly scolded.

I stopped my yipping and let out a soft growl. Then I pointed at the clock with my nose.

"Ah crud, Gazzy! It's almost eight!" Angel cringed.

"That's not good."

"What's going on?" Shun asked.

Angel rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, "We kind of have a curfew."

"I thought you said you didn't have anywhere to stay."

"We don't." Said Gazzy. "But the rest of our group set up a time to get back together at the docks."

"Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting."

"WHAT?" The two siblings exclaimed in unison.

"Well of course, we now a few shortcuts to get to the docks the quickest, and besides,"

Jakkor finished his sentence with a wink, "We wouldn't want you falling off another cliff again now would we?"

"Hardy har har." Angel replied bluntly.

I don't see why she needed the sarcasm, I thought it was _hilarious._

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**Yay! Another chapter out of the way. There wasn't any Drayna and her guardian moments in this chapter, but in the next chapter, hohohoho, they'll make a MAJOR appearance! (evil laugh). Well, here's the new rule for all stories, if no review comes from ya'll, then no chappies from me, got it? Rock on everyone!**

**WingedWolfAlari out.**


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